Lost and Gone
by KayMoore
Summary: Twins Jace and Isabelle Lightwood, along with their older brother Alec, have never lived in one place more than a few weeks. Their parents' job keeps them moving. However, their parents insist that this time, they're going to be staying. Alec has heard this before, though, and is not holding his breath.
1. Chapter 1

By the time he was a senior in high school, Alexander Lightwood should have been used to being the new kid. By that point, he had moved at least once a school year, if not twice, since the time he was in kindergarten. He hated it. It was always the same stares and questions from those students already in the school. None of his siblings seemed to mind it. Alec, as he was better known, did not adapt to new situations as easily as they did. He was not all that fond of change. Yet, it was all he really knew.

His parents insisted that_ that_ time, they were staying for good. That never turned out to be the truth any other time that he had heard it, so Alec stopped listening. He refused to unpack his boxes. There was no point if they were leaving in two months, anyway.

"Alec?" came a hesitant voice from the doorway of his room, and he turned to see Isabelle standing there, ready to head out to the school. "You ready?"

He wished she would stop treating him like glass, but he guessed he understood. Still, he was the eldest and it was his job to look after them, not the other way around. He would not fail them again. Alec took a deep breath and nodded with a forced smile. "Let's get this over with," he said as he walked toward the door, grabbing his backpack as he passed it.

* * *

><p>The halls were noisy when the Lightwood siblings entered The Institute, or Private School #12 in Alec's head. The conversation did not die out as they walked in, though several teens looked their way with either curious expressions or ones of distaste, their whispers changing from everyday gossip to inquiries on who the new students were. Alec walked between his siblings, his eyes mostly trained on the ground. He did not want to see the looks in their direction.<p>

They were almost to the office when Alec came stumbling to a stop to avoid walking into someone who stepped out into their way. He looked up to see a frighteningly beautiful girl, whose hair fell in graceful curls around her face. "And who are you?" she demanded more than asked.

"The Lightwoods," Jace (the eldest of the Lightwood twins, born ten minutes before Isabelle) answered, lifting his chin defiantly. He did not know who the girl was, but he did not like her attitude already.

She pursed her lips, giving each of them a once over before she said, "Camille. We're not scheduled for new students."

"Obviously, you're wrong," replied Isabelle, arching an eyebrow smoothly. "Now, get out of our way." When Alec gently nudged her with his elbow, she sighed and rolled her eyes as she added, "Please."

Camille narrowed her eyes and almost started to say something else, but she was quietened by someone coming sweeping up next to her, linking arms with her as he said, "Come on, Cam, it's too early in the day to be picking on the new kids." The boy smiled charmingly, though Isabelle was more distracted by the glitter on his face, and the fact that his gaze did not seem to falter from Alec, who was still focusing more on the ground than anything.

Isabelle grabbed Alec's wrist then and tugged gently as she said, "C'mon, let's go to the office." The Lightwood siblings side-stepped the small group of people standing before them in the hall and continued toward the office; Jace glared over his shoulder at them as they went.

"I don't like them," Jace commented when they turned the corner, crossing his arms over his chest with a scowl on his face.

None of the Lightwood siblings said anything else as they made their way into the office, stopping once in there. Sitting behind the counter on a tall stool was a teen with glasses whose attention was on the phone in his hands. Sitting farther behind the counter and behind a desk was a woman who was obviously the school secretary. The woman looked up at the three of them, pushed her glasses back up her nose, and then looked back to the computer as she said, "Simon, let Hodge know that the new students are here."

The boy, who was obviously Simon sighed and lowered his phone as he looked over at the other three. His brow rose behind his glasses as he watched them and stood up, shoving his phone into the pocket of his green hoodie worn over his uniform. Simon said nothing as he walked over to the door behind the counter that divided the front of the room from the back, and disappeared behind it.

A few moments later, Simon returned to his stool and a man with grayed hair came out with a smile on his face. "Ah, the Lightwoods!" the man exclaimed with a grin as he walked over to the counter and opened the swinging door that allowed access to the back of the room. "Come in, come in. Let's talk in my office, shall we?"

The siblings did not say anything as they followed the headmaster of The Institute into his office. There were three chairs situated in front of the desk, and they each sat down on one. Jace kept his arms crossed over his chest, Isabelle crossed her legs at the ankles, and Alec kept his gaze on his backpack, which he kept in his lap. "So, what do you think of The Institute so far?" questioned Hodge as he took his seat back behind the desk.

"It's... big?" Isabelle replied, glancing over at Jace whose incredulous expression matched her own.

"Yes, well, I'm sure you will fit in in no time." Hodge nodded a little as he glanced over the three files before him before handing each of the three a packet of papers. "There's your class assignments, as well as your locker numbers. Your uniforms won't be ready until the end of the week, so until then you may wear what you wish. Just make sure it follows the guidelines on that second paper. There's also a map of the school for your use. Lunch will take place at 12:15 this afternoon; you can eat in the cafeteria or outside on nice days such as today.

"I am sure your parents went over the rules with you already. That information was given to them when they enrolled you." Hodge nodded a little, smiling even as he was met with unimpressed and bored expressions from the two Lightwoods whose faces he could see. Alec's hair made it difficult to see his face with the way his head was tilted down. "Simon will show you around before classes start. Simon!"

That was how several minutes later, the Lightwoods were following Simon around as he showed him to different parts of the school. "What is the point of this if we were given _maps_?" questioned Jace, grumbling as he readjusted his backpack on his shoulder.

"I don't know," Simon replied, sighing in irritation. "I just do as I'm told, okay? This is where I leave you; grand tour is over. Welcome to The Institute."

* * *

><p>Alec did not have any classes with his siblings, though the two of them had most of their classes together. He did not mind too much, though. It was good to have a break from Isabelle worrying over him and Jace trying too hard to make him laugh. Alec was glad for the breather. His third class was a study hall, but being so new to the school, he had no homework to work on just yet. So, he simply sat at one of the back tables by himself with his sketchbook, listening to some music on his iPod. Alec smiled a little to himself as he idly drew in the sketchbook.<p>

He was so focused on his sketchbook and the music that he almost did not notice someone sitting down in the chair next to him at the table. Alec tensed a little as he stilled his hand and looked over to see the boy from earlier in the hall smiling at him. The boy tapped the side of his head near his ear, and Alec realized that the boy had been talking to him, but the music had drowned out the voice. Alec then removed one of the earbuds, though he did not stop his music from playing. "Uh, hi?" Alec said hesitantly, smiling smally when the short words caused the other teen to smile once again.

"Hi, Blue Eyes," replied the tall teen, crossing his arms as he leaned forward to rest them on top of the table. "I'm Magnus." He held out a hand toward Alec, his nails painted a deep purple that was almost black. Alec was sure there were a few specks of glitter on his skin, too.

Alec looked between Magnus' hand and the boy's eyes several times before almost hesitantly reaching out to take the hand in his own. "Alexander... Alec."

Magnus grinned at that, slowly releasing Alec's hand after shaking it once. "Alexander, huh? Well, Alexander, welcome to The Institute."

"Uhm... thank you?" Alec shifted uncomfortably in his chair, well aware of others in the room glancing over at the two of them. Camille did not seem to happy where she sat near the front of the classroom.

"You're new to town, yeah? I think you moved into my neighborhood."

Alec shrugged a little, idly rolling his pencil back and forth on top of the sketchbook. "Yeah, we're new; but, I don't know. I mean... we've moved a lot, so. Everything seems the same."

Magnus rose a brow slightly at the sound of the song lyrics coming from the other teen's earphones changing from the upbeat song before to something a little darker. He did not comment on it, however, as Alec's gaze remained on the sketchbook in front of him. "Well, I, for one, am glad that you moved here," Magnus stated after a moment, making Alec's gaze quickly return to him. "Those beautiful blue eyes of yours are something I needed in my life."

Alec's face flushed a bright red at Magnus' statement, causing the taller teen to smile brightly with a soft chuckle. "Uh..." Whatever Alec was going to attempt to say in response was drowned out by the sound of the bell ringing, signaling that it was time to head to lunch.

"Sit with me?" questioned Magnus, tilting his head to one side slightly. He wanted a chance to get to know the other teen more than his name and the fact that he apparently moved around a lot.

The blue-eyed boy opened his mouth to respond, but he snapped it shut when Camille came over to the table and placed her purse on top of it as she said, "Come on, Magnus, we've got a school dance to plan."

Alec took that as his cue to leave, and he quickly gathered his things, silently leaving the classroom without so much as looking in Magnus' direction. Magnus narrowed his eyes at Camille, who gave her best impression of being shocked and confused at Alec's abrupt departure; not that Alec was aware of anything going on behind him. He was focused on finding his siblings, and quietly weaved in and out between the bodies in the hallway, somehow managing not to trip over his own feet or to bump into someone. It was a miracle, he thought to himself, when he finally sat at an otherwise empty table with his siblings and he had avoided any accidents.

The rest of the school day passed rather uneventfully, and Alec had spent most of the day dodging and avoiding both Magnus and Camille. By the end of the day, Alec was tired and ready to just go home, to crawl into his bed and avoid the rest of the world. He said nothing on the drive to the house, even though both Jace and Isabelle tried several times to get him included in the conversation. The twins shared matching frowns in each others' direction, but eventually gave up in trying to get Alec to talk to them.

Once at the house, Alec wasted no time in getting out of the car and heading into the house, upstairs to his bedroom. There were boxes piled everywhere, and the only ones open were ones his clothes, bedding, and other necessary items were stored. There was a blackout curtain in his window, and the dark bedding only seemed to add to the cold feel of the room. Alec did not seem to mind it in the slightest as he wasted no time in dropping his backpack before all but collapsing onto the top of the bed. He was just so _exhausted_ that he barely lay there for five minutes before he fell asleep.

When he finally woke up, it was to the sound of two hushed voices attempting to remain quiet. His brow furrowed a little as he shifted and turned to see Jace and Isabelle sitting near the end of his bed with a box of pizza in front of them. Isabelle grinned when Alec looked to them and said, "See, I knew food would wake him up."

"Yeah, yeah," grumbled Jace with a roll of his eyes, though there was a faint smile tugging on his lips. "C'mon, Alec, we got your favorite."

Alec opened his mouth to argue that he was not hungry, but the glare from Izzy had him sitting up with a soft sigh as he rubbed his eyes. He smiled a little after a moment, where he took a chance to wake up a little more as he said, "Thanks."

Izzy and Jace led the conversation as they sat there, eating their pizza and drinking out of small bottles of soda (Coke for Izzy, Mtn. Dew for Jace, and Pepsi for Alec), though Alec did input some to the conversation every so often. It was enough to make the youngest of the three smile brightly as she looked between her brothers. Maybe the move would turn out for the best; she could only hope so.

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN: So, introduction chapter. Fun times, fun times. There's obviously something hanging over the Lightwoods' heads, which you'll all find out details later. Will add warnings as needed.**_

_**The first song Alec was listening to was "Good to Be Alive" by Skillet, the second was "Not Gonna Die", also by Skillet.**_


	2. Chapter 2

Izzy and Jace stuck around Alec's room that evening until well after their parents came home from work. The three siblings sat around, talking and watching a movie on Alec's laptop. However, as soon as the younger two left, Alec was climbing right back into his bed, where he hid beneath his blankets and quickly fell back asleep.

The following morning, Jace was surprised to find Alec already awake and sitting at the island in the kitchen. He showed signs of having showered already, something that made Jace's brow raise as he turned to look at the clock on the wall. Jace was usually the first of the siblings up, getting up early to finish any homework he put off or to exercise some. Alec usually dragged himself out of bed in barely enough time to get ready before school. "You're up early," Jace commented as he continued walking over to the fridge to get himself some juice and the milk to have some cereal.

"Went for a run," mumbled Alec in response, shrugging a shoulder without looking up from his cereal bowl.

Jace frowned as he got himself a bowl, watching his older brother as Alec idly toyed with the cuff of his too-big sweater with his free hand, clenching and unclenching his fingers around the material. "Run? You do realize that involves a lot of movement, yes?" questioned Jace, looking through his blond hair at Alec as he poured the milk over his Cheerios before focusing on what he was doing again.

Alec rolled his eyes at the question before shrugging his shoulder again. "I couldn't sleep."

The younger boy frowned as he closed the cereal box, flicking his hair back out of his eyes. "Well, next time, wake me up. We'll go together."

Jace watched for Alec's reaction, smiling a little when the elder teen nodded with a faint smile of his own while reaching up to run his fingers through his hair, pushing the strands back out of his face. "Yeah, alright."

"You're not wearing _that_ to school are you?" questioned Izzy as she came into the kitchen, tugging at the sleeve of Alec's sweater as she passed him. "Isn't it still too warm for sweaters?"

"Not everyone looks like they stepped out of a fashion magazine to go to school, Izzy," replied Alec with a fond roll of his eyes. "Besides, neither will you next week."

She pulled a face at that, pouring herself a cup of coffee. She had almost forgotten that they were supposed to have _uniforms_. "Well, on the plus side, we won't have to see your ugly black sweaters at school!" Isabelle grinned brightly at that, laughing softly when Alec simply rolled his eyes again, though a faint smile tugged up on his lips as well.

The rest of the morning passed like any other, with the siblings getting ready for school and leaving the house. The twins talked animatedly as they walked to the car, while Alec idly toyed with the keys in his hands. The day was just beginning, and he was already more than ready for it just to be over. Like usual, he did not say much as he drove, focusing on the road more than anything. Once they got to the school and left the car, Izzy pressed a kiss to Alec's cheek, thanking him for the ride before she rushed off to go meet some of her new friends. "See you at lunch?" Jace questioned, ducking his head a little in an attempt to catch Alec's eye. The blond smiled when Alec looked at him and nodded. "Cool. Bring me a soda, will ya?"

Alec nodded with a mock-salute as Jace started to walk off to meet up with some of his friends. Once alone, Alec sighed softly and idly ruffled his hair as he started his own walk to the school. He was well aware of several people sending odd looks in his direction, but Alec did his best to ignore it. He focused on his steps, on getting himself to his locker to put up what he would not need for his first class.

Down the hall a ways, Magnus frowned a little as he studied Alec from where he leaned against his own locker. He was not listening to the conversations of his friends around him, instead focusing on the quiet teen down the hall who dropped a few pens on the floor on accident. The clothes he wore that day made him seem so much _smaller_ than Magnus was sure the other teen was. He was overly pale, too; the dark color only made it that much more obvious. It made his strikingly blue eyes seem that much more vibrant, however. Magnus was still curious about the new student, wanting to know more about him but not sure how to go about it. Alec had seemed very reluctant to say anything to him the day prior, after all.

Magnus could not keep from smiling a little as he watched Alec struggling a little. He kept dropping things, pieces of paper or his sketchbook. It was obviously too early a morning for the guy. "Excuse me," Magnus mumbled to his friends before shifting his way through the group and making his way down the hall to where Alec stood. "Morning, gorgeous." Magnus chuckled when his voice caused Alec to jump a little with slightly wide eyes. "Sorry."

"Uhm... hi," replied Alec as he flicked his hair back out of his eyes, glancing over to where Magnus stood. His boots that day made him seem even taller than he actually was. "Can I, uhm... help you?"

"Just wanted to see how you were today, darling." Magnus flashed a charming smile that only seemed to grow in sincerity as a pink color found its way to Alec's face. "You never did sit with me at lunch yesterday."

Magnus continued smiling, even as Alec shrugged and ducked his head a little, returning his gaze to the tops of his shoes. He simply reached out and directed Alec's gaze back to him as he said, "Today. Sit with me. I want to talk with you."

"I'm meeting my brother," was all that Alec said, shaking his head a little as he took a step backward. Alec then shut his locker and started to walk to his first class, leaving Magnus standing there with a look of shock and confusion.

He did not try to talk to Alec in study hall that day, nor in any of their other shared classes. He did watch Alec at lunch that day, however, as the other teen sat quietly with his siblings. Alec seemed to want to disappear into his seat when Simon Lewis and Clary Fairchild invited themselves to sit at the Lightwoods' table. Isabelle and Jace exchanged a look, but neither twin was rude enough to make either of their guests leave the table. Alec, it seemed, was more than just shy; he was completely avoidant to social situations. It almost hurt to watch; and, Magnus could not help but wonder if Alec was just naturally like that (as some people were) or if it was due to some event in his past. Either way, Magnus decided to make it his goal to try to help that beautiful boy more comfortable, even if only with him. Alec deserved a friend he could relax around that wasn't his siblings, after all. And Magnus was more than willing to be that friend.

* * *

><p>"U-uh, what?" Alec's eyes were slightly wide though his brow was furrowed in confusion as he came to a stop in the hallway, half-way to the door to the parking lot when Magnus suddenly held out a piece of paper in front of him. "What's this?"<p>

Alec's gaze darted back and forth between Magnus and the paper several times before settling on the teen as Magnus said, "My number and messenger contact. I told you that I would like to talk with you, remember? Since you're so adamant to sit with your siblings, I figured..."

The quiet teen worried at his lower lip for a moment before he reached out and took the piece of paper from Magnus. He was not sure why he was taking the information, telling himself over and over that he did not want to talk to the guy. However, Alec was also quite aware that the thought was a lie. He did want to know more about Magnus; that was the part that scared him and confused him the most. Alec had not _wanted_ to get to know anyone in a long time. Alec nodded a little, smiling smally which only made Magnus smile brightly once again, as he said, "Okay."

"Okay." Magnus nodded, unable to keep the smile off of his face, even as he glanced over his shoulder to where his friend Will was calling for him to hurry up. "I'll talk to you later, Alexander."

Alec could only nod a little, smiling softly to himself as he watched Magnus rush off to join his friend, walking arm-in-arm with Will outside. It took a moment for Alec to bring himself to walk again, carefully placing the folded up paper into his pocket as he went. Maybe he would bring himself to actually add Magnus' number to his phone by the time he got home with his siblings.

When they actually got home, however, Alec did not put the number in his phone. Instead, he went up to his room and sat in the window seat overlooking the back yard. He had his sketchbook with him, and drew absently on a blank page as he listened to some music. He could hear his siblings downstairs, arguing over which movie to watch, and he could not help but smile a little. It was a better day than Alec had anticipated; he was not even tired that day. He counted it as a good day.

It was sometime after they ate dinner (spaghetti, salad, and garlic toast that Jace and Alec had made), that Alec finally added Magnus to his phone's contacts. He stared at it for a long time as he sat in the window seat once again. Alec knew that Magnus obviously wanted to talk to him, but the blue-eyed teen was not sure he could bring himself to actually reach out. It would be easy to do, Alec told himself, but at the same time, it seemed impossible. After several minutes, Alec let out a heavy breath and finally made himself create a new message and send it without thinking too much on it.

_**Hey, it's Alec...**_

He was not sure if the message came across as awkward and unsure as he had thought it did. Of course, it was probably because Alec knew himself well enough to know that he was always awkward and unsure. Magnus had not quite discovered that yet. Sure, Magnus knew that Alec was shy; but, he was not aware of just how shy the blue-eyed teen could be. It seemed that only a few seconds passed by before Alec's phone was ringing, signaling a new message in his inbox. Unknowingly, Alec held his breath as he opened the message.

_alexander! i was wondering when i would hear from you._

Alec let out the breath he had been holding, smiling smally as he read the simple comment several times. He tapped his fingers against his phone, trying to think of just what to say next; but, a second message from Magnus came through before he could.

_how has your evening been, darling?_

He was not sure what he felt about the pet names that Magnus seemed to use quite often, but at the same time, it was kind of nice. It almost made Alec feel somewhat important, even if only for a moment.

_**It's fine. Got Jace to do the dishes for once. No homework to work on so I'm just kind of sitting here.**_

Alec worried at his lower lip as he tapped away on his phone, almost regretting the message after he sent it. He wanted to take it back, to think of something better to say; but, even if he could, Alec was not sure he would be able to.

_ugh. don't remind me. thomas will take my phone or something if i don't do my homework one more time._

_**Who is Thomas?**_

_my foster dad. well one of them. he and lee are great. they took me in, in the process of official adoption and all that._

Alec's eyes widened a little at that. He had not realized that Magnus did not live with his parents. A part of him wanted to know the story there, but it was not exactly one to share over text messages. It could wait, even though he was definitely curious. At least Magnus had someone, though; not ever foster kid had that opportunity.

After that, the two of them continued messaging back and forth, even after Alec had changed for bed and moved over to climb into it, getting comfortable underneath his favorite comforter. A small smile kept playing on his features as they continued talking until well after midnight. It was finally Magnus who said good-night, though he seemed hesitant to say good-bye. Alec was surprised at how long they had been talking when he finally actually looked at the time, before looking to Magnus' last text one more time.

_Sit with me at lunch tomorrow?_

Alec worried at his lower lip once again, sighing softly as he felt the strong urge to just shrink away from his phone at the suggestion. He was not sure he wanted to. Conversing with someone through a text was so different than talking to them face-to-face; and, Alec was not sure he was up to social interaction that was not his siblings. After several moments, though, Alec found himself texting out a reply before he could really think too much on it before he plugged his phone into the charger and set it aside.

_**Okay.**_

He was asleep before he saw that there was a response from Magnus sitting in his inbox, which he would find sometime the following morning as he got ready for school.

_Okay._

* * *

><p>The following day at school, Magnus had hoped to have a chance to speak with Alec before classes started; but, he had been flanked by his siblings the entire time, and Magnus had no desire to listen to Jace go on and on about how annoying "that Lewis kid" was. He did not get a chance to talk to Alec in study hall either, they were both working on homework that needed finished plus Camille kept trying to pull his focus every time he turned in his seat to try to say something to Alec, who sat at the table behind him. When the bell rang signaling that it was time for lunch, however, Magnus turned and faced Alec with a brilliant smile as he said, "So, Alexander, where are we sitting today?"<p>

Alec's face flushed a little as he put his sketchbook and math textbook into his backpack, slowly looking between Camille's soured face and Magnus' smiling one. "Uhm, I don't... I mean, uh..." Alec said after a moment, flicking his hair back out of his eyes.

"Nope. You're not talking your way out of this one." Magnus' tone gave Alec no room to argue as they both stood up and made their way toward the cafeteria, after Magnus told his friends he would see them later. "Let's sit outside. It's gorgeous out."

"Okay..." Alec said nothing else as they waited in line to get food, nor as they made their way outside. He avoided his siblings' raised brows and amused grins, knowing they were going to give him so much shit later.

The wind was blowing slightly when they stepped outside, and Alec shuddered a little. He was glad he was wearing a sweater, threadbare as it was. It at least helped him from being too cold. Alec always had gotten hold too easily. He idly toyed with the cuffs of his sleeves, unsure what to say or do or... well, anything. He was so used to being with his siblings. Talking with them just came easy. Alec let go of his sleeves to open the soda he had bought, only then glancing up to see Magnus staring at him, which made his face flush a bright red almost immediately. Magnus chuckled at the reaction and Alec just wanted to hide even more as he said, "What? Why are you staring at me?"

"Nothing," replied Magnus, shaking his head with a smile. "Your eyes really are amazing, y'know. Perfect match for that beautiful face of yours." Magnus had thought that Alec could get no redder, but apparently he had been wrong as the other teen flushed even more. "But, enough of that. Tell me more about that book you were reading."

Alec smiled a little at that, toying with the tab of his soda can as he launched into a further explanation of this new book series that he was reading. Magnus watched Alec talking with a small smile, enjoying being able to see the other teen be more animated than he had seen. After that, they spent their time talking about different books and movies as they ate their lunch. Magnus could not be more thrilled that by the time lunch was over, Alec was smiling fully and more brightly than he had seen yet. Alec had not felt that relaxed in a long time. "Call me tonight, sweetie," Magnus insisted with a wink as he reluctantly left to meet up with his friends and head to his next class. Alec sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair several times and got up to toss away the trash on his tray before heading to his own class.


End file.
